Folding leg.



No. 783,456. 7 PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. E. F. MoKENNA.

FOLDING LEG.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. 1904.

ll H ll "Hllllllhl I A3 gu vawfoz- TINTTED STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

PATE T OFFICE.

FOLDING LEG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,456, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed February 9, 1 904:. Serial No. 192,738.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, EDWARD F. McKENNA, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Richmond, in the county of St. CroiX and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Folding Legs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to folding legs for beds, cots, and the like, and has for its object to provide an improved construction of the same that will firmly retain the leg either in its open or folded position and without the aid of'additional fastening devices. complish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a section of the side rail of a bed or cot having my improved device thereon, the leg being shown in its open position. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the leg being shown in its folded position. Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view of the bracket for holding the leg in either position.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to said drawings, the referencenumeral 1 denotes the side rail of a bed or cot to which is attached, by screws 2 or otherwise, a bracket consisting of a back plate 3, an intermediate portion 4, and a front plate 5, said parts being formed, preferably, of metal and being formed either in one piece or in separate pieces permanently fastened together. The intermediate portion 4 is formed centrally with an inverted-V-shaped slot or recess 6, and at one side is cut away almost horizontally to provide an angled face, as shown in dotted lines at? in Fig. 1, and on its other side is cut away to provide an angled face more nearly approaching the vertical, as also shown in dotted lines at 8 in Fig. 1, all for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

The leg 9 may be of any desired shape, except that its upper end 10 shall be of a width to enter the space between plates 3 and 5, and shall be of inverted-V shape to correspond accurately with the slot 6. The upper end 10 of said leg is provided with an elongated slot This object I ac- 11, adapted to receive a pin 12, fixed in registering apertures 13 in the plates 3 and 5.

From the above description the operation of my improved construction will be understood to be as follows; The leg 9, attached to its bracket by means of pin 12 engaging the elongated slot 11 therein, is vertically movable in said bracket to the extent of the length of said slot; but when forced upward its inverted-V- shaped end 10 engages the similarly-shaped slot 6 in the bracket, thus firmly wedging said leg in the vertical position for use, as seen in Fig. 1. To fold the leg it is only necessary to draw the same downward out of engage ment with said slot 6 and to turn it on the pin 12 as a pivot to a horizontal position against the angled face 7 and then force it endwise toward the angled face 8, whereupon it will wedge between said faces 7 and 8 and be firmly retained in the folded position parallel with the side rail 1, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that the angle of the face 7 will be arranged to suit the configuration of the leg 9, so as to permit the latter to assume a horizontal position, and may be varied to suit a leg of different shape from that shown in the drawings.

While it is preferred to form the bracket receiving the leg separate from the side rail of the article of furniture to be supported, still I do not wish to limit myself to such construction, as the parts engaging the upper end of the leg may be formed integral with the side rail. So, also, although I have shown the leg 9 and its upper end 10 formed integral, the two may be formed separate and attached together by screws or other suitable means. So constructed the upper end 10 and the bracket would constitute an article of manufacture capable of sale as such. It may also be desired to provide additional means for firmly retaining the leg in either adjusted position, which may be readily done by replacing the pin 12 with a thumb-nut, whereby the parts may be clamped together when adjusted and as readily released to shift the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with aleg having an anguoperating with said angled faces to Wedge IO lar upper end, of a bracket having a similarlysaid leg in its horizontal or folded position. shaped slot or recess to receive the angular In testimony whereof I have hereunto set upper end of said leg and retain it in a vertical my hand in the presence of two subscribing 5 position, and having angled faces adapted to Witnesses.

engage said leg when in a horizontal or folded EDWARD F. MGKENNA. position, said leg and bracket having a slotted Witnesses:

connection permittingmoveinentto theforrner T. J. MCNALLY,

from the one position to the other and 00- W. W. BEEBE. 

